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Trade policy in the United States since 1930 is rigorously evaluated in this major new book.Trade Protection in the United States analyzes the history of US trade policy to explain why interest groups are able to foster protectionist policies despite the advantages which free trade offers consumers.Read more...

Contents: Part I: Basic Principles 1. Trade, National Borders and Individual Welfare 2. The Case for Free Trade 3. The Rhetoric of Trade Protection 4. The Political Economy of Trade Protection Part II: Institutions 5. The Congress 6. The President 7. The Bureaucracy Part III: The Market in Trade Protection 8. Trade Politics in the Legislative Branch 9. Trad Politics in the Executive Branch 10. Trade Politics and the Fair Trade Laws 11. Regional Trade Politics Part IV: From Managed to Free Trade 12. The Political Economy of the GATT 13. The Case for Constitutional Reform References Index

Reviews

Editorial reviews

Publisher Synopsis

`The authors provide a useful and informative examination of the public choice view on trade policy.' -- Douglas A. Irwin, Journal of Economic History `This impressive treatise provides critical new insights into trade policies since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. The authors carefully and systematically analyze the behavior of the major players in the formation of trade policies, namely, common interest groups in the private sector, the House and Senate, the President, and the government bureaucracy, in most of the major episodes of trade-policy change over these years and show how the outcomes can be best understood within a political economy framework. Their final conclusion that unilateral free trade should be imposed by amending the Constitution to prevent the government from levying import duties or imposing quantitative restrictions on trade should stimulate a fundamental rethinking of US trade policy.' -- Robert E. Baldwin, University of Wisconsin, US `The Locke Institute captured top honors for the third consecutive year with its nomination, Trade Protection in the United States. Authors Charles K. Rowley, Willem Thorbecke, and Richard E. Wagner make an "incontrovertible case" for free trade irrespective of the trade policies pursued by other countries.' -- Atlas Economic Research Foundation Highlights, Spring 1996 `. . . I find this book to be a worthwhile contribution to our understanding of the endogeneity of trade policy.' -- Howard J. Wall, The Economic JournalRead more...